You could tell by the afternoon on the banks of the Seine that Paris was hitting the brakes on a bit of a summer tradition. As of June 26, the police have been enforcing a city-wide ban on having a drink in public or buying one for the road. With hospitals in Europe at their limit from record-breaking temperatures, it was time to act. This isn’t about being heavy-handed with people; it’s about the fact that mixing alcohol and extreme heat is no good.
What Paris changed, and the pressure behind it
The numbers don’t lie. On Thursday, emergency call-outs in the city ran over 2,500. The day before they put the ban in place, there were 25 cardiac arrests in Paris – you’re normally looking at 10 or so at this time of year. Officials say the hospital system was at a breaking point.
This is a short-term measure and it doesn’t apply to the likes of bars and restaurants with a licence. But for the weekend, with some sports put on hold, a Pride march called off and a music festival in limbo, the police prefect is clear: we can’t let the emergency services be swamped.
Why liquor becomes risky when temperatures soar
For one thing, it’s a diuretic. Alcohol puts the brakes on vasopressin, the hormone that tells your body to keep its water, so your kidneys let more out. Add in a heatwave and you’re already losing fluid through sweat, and you dehydrate all the faster.
Then there’s the other side of it. Alcohol opens up your blood vessels and your blood pressure falls, right when you need to be cooling down. You also lose out on sodium and potassium, which can make your heart do funny things. For some, it can be a matter of life and death.
And it makes you less sharp. If you’ve had a few, you might not notice the first signs of heatstroke – the slurred words, the pounding in your head. Down by the water, that kind of delay is what gets you. We’ve seen more than a few drownings as folks have gone to the rivers and lakes to get some relief.
Here are the main things to be aware of:
– In the heat, alcohol will dehydrate you quicker
– It drops your blood pressure by widening the vessels
– It can put a veil over the symptoms of heat illness
– Being near a river or lake is riskier
Records tumbling across Europe
It’s been a week of new highs. Germany saw 41.3 degrees near Saarbrucken on Friday, and the UK, France and Switzerland have all made their mark in the books. Paris itself hit 40.9, a first for the month, while those in the know have been making for the fountains and the shade of the parks.
Since the 18th of June, 55 have drowned in France alone in an attempt to cool off in the water. The WHO says Europe is home to more drinkers than anywhere else, and that makes for a tricky situation in a heat emergency.
What is driving this brutal heat?
If you ask the meteorologists, it’s an Omega block. Think of a high-pressure dome in the shape of the Greek letter omega. It’s a stubborn thing that holds the hot air in for days, making for a sweltering day and a night that won’t let up.
Some at the World Weather Attribution group would have you believe this wouldn’t be happening if it weren’t for us. The kind of hot nights where you can’t get any rest are 100 times more common now than 20 years ago. By their reckoning, it’s the worst we’ve ever had in these parts.
Does science absolve moderate drinking in heat? Not quite
There was a review in Environmental Health last September that put eight trials under the microscope. They had 93 men, all in good health, and gave them a modest amount of alcohol for a couple of hours. The conclusion was that, in that very specific setting, it didn’t do much to how the body handled the heat.
But you have to read the fine print. They weren’t looking at long-term habits, and the subjects were in no way representative of the general public. Out in the real world, with the kind of conditions we’re in, you’re still in for trouble with dehydration and a lack of awareness.
The bottom line for this weekend and beyond
Paris is putting it plainly: put down the wine and have some water. The officials’ view is that if you don’t want to see the ambulances tied up and the ICU full, you’ll leave the public drinking be for now.
It’s only for a little while, but you can expect to see this kind of thinking elsewhere in Europe as it gets hotter. Whether you live here or are just passing through, the message is the same. When the temperature is up, alcohol is the last thing you need.
